How many rooms??

[rise13eyond]

So I couldn't really think of a way to word it that would fit up there. But how many rooms, places, things, is a good amount? How big do you think a map should be. The game I'm working on mostly takes place in the same building (it's an old asylum in case you were wondering), though there is a fenced in outside area with two small one room buildings. I would think as it is now it's pretty small. The main building has 4 above ground floors, a basement and beneath that a large maze. That is the minimum I'll go simply because that is what I need to fit the specific rooms in it. But I'm beginning to wonder if when all that is done it will still be pretty small, and I have no idea how many "rooms" is too little, too many, or just right.

 

[Hyouryuu-Na]

It depends on your game. Whatever be the amount, just make sure that the player is comfortable playing the game. Make sure that too many rooms don't lag the game. And don't keep too many rooms unnecessarily. The player doesn't want to walk around empty or unnecessary rooms for no reason. Make sure that the rooms have a purpose and they fit the theme of the game. It will be pretty weird to have a torture chamber in a game made for kids for example ^^
Objects should also fit the theme of the game. Too many objects crammed in a room don't look good in my opinion. But it depends wholly on what purpose you want the objects to serve. But I guess you can design a good map if you play some games, look at tutorials on map making. Good luck with your game!

 

[Kes]

@rise13eyond 'General Discussion' is not for feedback on individual games, so discussing how many rooms would fit your particular game is not appropriate.

However, a general discussion about how one decides how many rooms is fine. Just be prepared for replies which are irrelevant to you - they could be very helpful for someone else.

In any game you need to playtest it multiple times, so doing that you will build up a decent picture of how adequate your number is. It really does depend on the type of game that is being developed, the atmosphere/tone that the dev wants to create, the experience that they want the player to have. Then there is the question of whether this will be purely linear, or whether the player has to re-visit some rooms for game play purposes (e.g. find an item to progress, flick a switch etc), and if so, have those rooms changed in some way.

 

[Wavelength]

There's no right answer - it's so situational and largely up to the designer.

However, if you're relatively new to game-making, I'd suggest aiming for far fewer rooms, and far less space, than you originally envisioned. A common mistake of neophyte game-makers is to make places far too big, which leads to spaces that feel visually bland (and usually take too long to traverse). Cutting down can create much more pleasing spaces - just be sure that you don't create too many narrow choke points as you do so.

A lot of objects can be find, but don't scatter them around randomly. Stack them, keep them in groups, etc. - leaving areas with mostly positive space filled by objects, and other areas of the same room composed mostly of negative space (so the player's eye can focus on the positive areas).

 

[dulsi]

Maybe you are asking the wrong question. What is your flow through the rooms? If you have a 100 rooms but the player is directed through them by the tasks, that can be fine. If you have 30 rooms and events happen randomly in the rooms, you could get frustrated players until they give up.